BBC - Press Office - Network TV Programme Information Week 42 Blue Peter Feature Programme copy (Blue Peter At 50) The Beginning 1. Blue Peter first aired on 16 October 1958 and transmitted for 15 minutes. 2. The first presenters were Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. Christopher Trace was the stand-in for Charlton Heston in blockbuster Ben-Hur and Leila Williams had been crowned Miss Great Britain the previous year. 3. Blue Peter was created by John Hunter Blair. Throughout the programme's 50-year history, there have been just six editors: Biddy Baxter, Lewis Bronze, Oliver Macfarlane, Steve Hocking, Richard Marson and the current editor Tim Levell. 4. The 50th anniversary edition of the show on 16 October will be programme number 4,406. Ships and Songs 5. Blue Peter is named after the blue and white flag hoisted when a ship is ready to set sail from port. The reasoning for the choice is that the programme is intended to be a voyage of adventure and discovery for the viewers, constantly covering new topics. 6.

The ship's symbol, the Blue Peter Galleon, was designed by much-loved TV artist Tony Hart, who received just £100 for his work – which is worth an estimated £1,537 in today's money. Had he been paid royalties they would have made him a millionaire. 7. The theme tune is called Barnacle Bill. There have been nine versions of the theme tune, and the latest arrangement was introduced for this year's series. The Faces 8. There have been 34 Blue Peter presenters, including this year's new recruits, Helen Skelton and Joel Defries. 9. The longest-serving presenter was John Noakes, who presented the series for 12 and a half years and was 45 when he left. On one famous occasion, John was asked to drop his trousers for the show to show the bruises he had sustained during a bobsleigh film. According to his recollection, he realised that he was wearing his wife's underwear which he had put on by accident in the dark! On 17 May 1976, John Noakes collapsed in the studio due to exhaustion and Lesley Judd had to take over. 10.

John Noakes's famous catchphrase was "Get Down Shep". In 1978, pop group The Barron Knights released a single of the same name which reached No. 44 in the charts. 11. Peter Duncan is the only presenter to do two stints on the show. He became a gold badge holder after he was made Chief Scout in Feb 2007. 12. Yvette Fielding was the youngest-ever presenter. She was 18 when she joined the series. 13. Sarah Greene met her husband, former TV presenter Mike Smith, through Blue Peter whilst being filmed learning to dive on the Mary Rose wreck. 14. The shortest-serving listed presenter was Anita West, who lasted for just four months before returning to her acting career. 15. The following stars applied to be become presenters but didn't make it: Kevin Whately, Sally James, Howard Stableford, Gail Porter, Jake Humphrey, Todd Carty and Sidney Sloane. 16. The famous Blue Peter badge was launched on 17 June 1963. 17. There are six types of badges – Blue, Green, Silver, Gold, Purple and Orange.

Blue can be won by viewers sending in an interesting letter, poem, picture or story, or by appearing on the programme. Silver is for viewers who already have a blue but have to do something different to win one. Green is the environmental award, for viewers who make contributions on "green" subjects. Orange is given to viewers who have been either a winner or runner-up in a Blue Peter competition. The Gold badge is Blue Peter's highest award and is only given to people who have shown outstanding bravery and courage, or have represented their country in an international event. Introduced in 2006, the Purple badge is awarded to "Team Player" children who take an active role in the show, either by reviewing it, suggesting ideas for items or helping with audience research. 18. Famous Gold badge winners include Her Majesty The Queen, who received one in 2001, David Beckham, JK Rowling, Torvill and Dean and Bonnie the Blue Peter dog, who was given one on her retirement in 1991. It has also become tradition to present a leaving presenter with a gold badge on their final show. 19.

In 45 years of the badge scheme it is estimated that the programme has awarded half a million badges. 20. Every guest who comes on the show gets a badge. Celebrities with badges include: Madonna, Tony Blair, Mr Bean, Morph, Ewan McGregor, Dawn French, David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Gordon Brown, Uri Geller (who did his first fork-bending on Blue Peter), David Cassidy, ABBA, Elton John, Carrie Fisher and Pele. Bryony Stokes, 2008 Olympic medallist, wore her Blue Peter badge as she windsurfed to her Bronze medal victory. 21. A Blue Peter badge and certificate will get children of 15 years and under free admission into 200 venues up and down the country. Blue Peter and the Doctor 22. Peter Purves was a Doctor Who assistant before he joined the children's series. 23. Sophie Aldred's Dr Who character, Ace, wore Blue Peter badges which were Sophie's own. 24. A competition to design a Blue Peter monster in 2005 generated 43,920 entries.

The winning monster was the Abzorbaloff, which appeared in the story Love & Monsters. Blue Peter pets 25. Blue Peter's pets are almost as well-known as its presenters. There have been eight dogs, five tortoises, nine cats and two parrots. 26. George the tortoise is the longest-serving pet. He made his first appearance in 1982. When he died in 2004 he was around 81 years old. He is the only pet buried in the Blue Peter garden. He once became amorous with a pair of Sarah Greene's shoes, thinking they were another tortoise… 27. Another tortoise, originally named Fred, had to be renamed Freda when it was discovered he was, in fact, a she. The Trips 28. From Morocco to Mexico and Japan to Jamaica, there have been 43 Blue Peter summer expeditions covering every continent on the globe. 29. During a Blue Peter expedition to Egypt, presenter Tina Heath was caught short with a dodgy tummy and had to use her script as toilet paper! Here's One I Made Earlier 30.

In 1962, a housewife named Margaret Parnell sent in the idea for the first "make" and spent the best part of the next 40 years creating them, designing over 700. 31. Early makes included the classic Christmas Advent crown, doll's hammocks and bird-seed cakes. Recent makes include a Tardis pencil case. 32. The most popular make was Tracy Island, which received 100,000 requests for the Factsheet in 1993. Anthea Turner still has the Tracy Island she made on the show. Helping Out 33. The Blue Peter Appeals started in 1962 when viewers were asked to collect postage stamps to raise money for homes for the homeless. 34. It's estimated that, across the 46 appeals, children have raised the equivalent of over £100m in today's money. The 14 Bring & Buy Sales have raised the equivalent of an estimated £57m.

Other items collected by the appeal include over 948,025,000 stamps, 19m aluminium cans, 800 tons of wool and over 1,450,000 pairs of shoes, including David Beckham's boots. 35. Between 1962 and 2007 the appeals have raised money to buy, amongst others, the following: two guide dogs, 25 life boats, eight flats for homeless people, 32 ponies , 57 lorries, three caravans, two day centres, six bungalows, 12 houses in Romania, 8,350 lavatories and three schools. 36. The Blue Peter lifeboats can still be found at seven lifeboat stations around the country. They've been launched over 4,600 times and have saved, up to 20 March 2008, 1058 lives. Blue Peter and Green Fingers 37. The Blue Peter Garden was launched on 21 March 1974. Percy Thrower was the first gardener and was awarded his gold badge in 1988.

The second gardener was Chris Crowder, followed by Clare Bradley and, currently, Chris Collins. 38. The Blue Peter Garden was vandalised three times – in 1978, 1980 and 1983 – before security cameras were eventually fitted. 39. TV executive Edward Barnes "nicked" the idea for the garden from rival series Magpie. Blue Peter babies 40. In 1968 it was decided that Blue Peter would feature a baby on the programme, to show viewers what it was like to have a little brother or sister. On 30 September of that year, baby Daniel made his first appearance at just 14 weeks old and made regular appearances over the next two years. 41. Presenters who had babies during the time they worked on the programme were Tina Heath, who had Jemma, and Liz Barker who had Dexter. In 1987, presenter Janet Ellis was the focus of national scrutiny when she had baby Jack out of wedlock. Incontinent Elephants and Beautiful Knockers 42.

Peter Purves attributes the blame for Lulu the incontinent elephant to editor Biddy Baxter, who allegedly asked Lulu's keeper to do without the stick he used to keep her under control. The ensuing chaos saw Lulu pee, poo and generally misbehave around the studio, dragging her gamekeeper through the mess. 43. Other memorable moments include Simon Groom's innuendo-laden: "What a beautiful pair of knockers", when commenting on a replacement for Durham Cathedral's historic door knocker; Mark Curry knocking the head off a LEGO model; and Diane-Louise Jordan falling flat on her face whilst covering John Leslie's run in the London Marathon. The Competitions 44. A competition to design a frock for presenter Caron Keating solicited responses from 69,928 debut dressmakers. In 1981 a competition to design a Christmas stamp generated 74,000 responses, and a contest to design a character for Aardman Animations in 2006 attracted 47,268 budding Nick Parks. Miscellaneous 45.

Children who appeared on the show and have gone on to be famous include: Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton and popstar James Blunt (then James Blount). Konnie Huq also appeared in 1989 with the National Youth Theatre before she went on to become the programme's longest-serving presenter. Richard Deverell, the current Controller of BBC Children's, appeared on the show in 1976 as part of a troupe of knitting scouts. 46. Blue Peter has many Royal friends. A young Prince Edward visited Blue Peter in 1969 and, in 1970, Valerie Singleton and HRH Princess Anne filmed their Royal Safari in Kenya. Her Majesty The Queen visited the studio in 2001 and was given a gold badge. Blue Peter's current presenters and a specially selected number of former presenters and production staff have been invited to The Palace to meet Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the 50th anniversary. 47. There have been four Blue Peter time capsules. The first was buried at BBC Television Centre in 1971 and the second in 1984, when the first box had to be moved because of development at Television Centre.

Another was buried in 2000, which will be opened in 2029. There is also one hidden under the Millennium Dome/02 Centre which will be opened in 2050. 48. Blue Peter is the longest-running children's TV series in the world and the programme and its presenters have earned themselves countless records. John Noakes's Long Fall gave him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest delayed drop by a civilian; Janet Ellis jumped 20,000 feet – a European record for a civilian woman; and Matt Baker's tandem hang-gliding also made the record books. 49. Blue Peter has won 40 awards, including two Baftas, a National Television Award and an RTS Award. 50. If you sat down and watched every episode of Blue Peter ever made, back to back, it would take around two and a half months – about the same amount of time needed to drive four times round the world.

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Doctor Who's assistants In pictures: Doctor Who's assistants 1 of 12 Billie Piper is to follow in a long line of actors who have travelled through time with Doctor Who - including two early assistants Vicki, played by Maureen O'Brien, and Steven Taylor (right), played by future Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves. 2 of 12 Another companion was Jamie McCrimmon, played by Frazer Hines - who went on to star in soap opera Emmerdale. Jamie was rescued from the battle of Culloden in 1746 by the second doctor, Patrick Troughton. 3 of 12 Deborah Watling starred as Victoria Waterfield, who also travelled with Troughton. The daughter of a Victorian scientist, she became orphaned when the Daleks killed her father. 4 of 12 A librarian who was attacked by the Cybermen, Zoe Herriot, played by Wendy Padbury, was highly intelligent but inexperienced. 5 of 12 The Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney, centre) headed the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, while Jo Grant (Katy Manning) trained as a spy and was assigned to UNIT.

6 of 12 John Noakes: the greatest Blue Peter presenter of all time - Telegraph John Noakes: the greatest Blue Peter presenter of all time Makers of the iconic children's show rightly regarded Noakes as its greatest ever star. John Noakes with border collie pups in 1976 Photo: Rex By Richard Marson 7:33PM BST 30 Jun 2015 John Noakes, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, is in hospital having recently gone missing from his home in Majorca. In this extract from his 2008 book 'Blue Peter: the Story of Britain's Longest-Running Children's Programme', Richard Marson explains his journey from unknown repertory actor to household name. • 20 Greatest TV Shows for Young Children In 2005 a dinner was held with Edward Barnes and all five Blue Peter editors. During the evening, talk turned inevitably to presenters past and present. The unanimous feeling was that the greatest and most successful presenter of all time was John Noakes. His bravery, his subversive sense of humour and his celebrated relationship with Patch (son of Petra) and Shep, proved an irresistible combination.

Noakes, right, with co-presenters Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton in the early Seventies. Photo: Rex It all started in 1965 with the search for a presenter to join Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton. Biddy Baxter, Leicester-born, often returned home at weekends, where she frequently found items for Blue Peter in the pages of the Leicester Mercury. She spotted a photograph of a young Noakes, appearing locally in the play Hobson's Choice. On 9 December 1965, Doreen Stephens, Head of Family Programmes, asked BBC One to authorise an increase of £50 per show to fund the third presenter. She explained that the programme had found “…a very promising man, John Noakes. He is young, attractive and unaffected, and a complete contrast to Christopher Trace.” • John Noakes: an appreciation Noakes's introduction was deliberately low key. Biddy had warned her boss: “The introduction of an additional personality will have to be done slowly and with tremendous subtlety if he is not to be resented as an intruder.

I feel it would be dangerous to bring him in before Christmas, as it is a psychologically bad time to increase the family circle, but I want to start edging the new face in directly afterwards.” Noakes with young fans in 1974. Photo: Rex It was just as well. Noakes had a distinctly rocky start: “This glass eye, the camera, stripped me naked. I actually shook with fear, the voice tremoring as I said the words. The first few months were quite terrifying. I went through murder. I even went to a hypnotist and a faith healer to try to get me out of it.” Noakes was nearly dropped, but in the event, although he was left out of the 1966 summer expedition, he was given another chance. Now he “…started to develop this idiot, who is not really the real John Noakes. I'd got rid of my Yorkshire accent at drama school. I brought it back and used it as part of a character. If I was in a racing car, I was the racing driver.

If I was jumping out of an aeroplane, I was one of the Red Devils.” He played his mistakes for laughs, but as well as acting the clown, he defined the role of the action presenter. He seemed utterly fearless and was only ever scared twice - once on a tree swing, the other up a circus sway pole. Noakes (centre) with many of Blue Peter's past presenters pose for the show's 40th anniversary in 1998. Photo: Rex There were no safety ropes for his famous ascent of Nelson's Column: “I could've murdered the assistant cameraman. He was new and full of enthusiasm. We started getting lightning and the steeplejack said, 'If we get anymore, I think we should go down.' In the meantime, this assistant cameraman was saying, 'If you could get over that ledge just one more time.' I thought, 'If I get close enough to him, I'll push him off!'" MI5 joins forces with Blue Peter Another narrow escape was the time Noakes came hurtling off a bobsleigh in St Moritz. His backside and legs were covered in bruises.

Biddy, with her instinct for what would appeal to children, asked Noakes to drop his trousers and show the damage: “I'd only got back the day before and said to the wife, 'Have you got some clean knickers?' It was early morning and I put them on in the dark. When I unzipped my trousers live on air, I thought, 'I've got my wife's black lace knickers on!'“ Noakes left Blue Peter in June 1978: “Towards the end I was exhausted. The pressure was terrible. I'd done all these things and I don't think any of them really realised how difficult it was. It was a Peter Pan existence, a bit like an overgrown schoolboy's job.” Extract from 'Blue Peter: 50th Anniversary. A Personal Account' by Richard Marson (Hamlyn, £14.99) John Noakes's top 5 moments Lulu goes on the rampage What seemed like an innocent encounter with a baby elephant from Chessington Zoo turned into studio carnage and a piece of TV history. Climbing Nelson's column This famous 1977 ascent turned out to be rather fraught for Noakes.

With Shep at the TT races Remember when motorcycling was all the rage? This segment in which Noakes gets on his bike is a retro classic. Sammy Lloyd teaches Noakes how to score a try The Rugby League player put Noakes through his paces on spin-off show Go With Noakes. All aboard the Flying Scotsman This early clip (1966) shows middle-class Christopher Trace introducing Noakes putting elbow grease into stoking the train boiler. Top Galleries Blue Peter (Series) - TV Tropes Blue Peter You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share WMG Hey kids, today we're going to learn how to write an article on TV Tropes using nothing but a keyboard, some sticky-back plastic and an empty washing-up bottle. But first, here's One I Prepared Earlier : Blue Peter is the longest running children's programme in the world, starting in 1958 and still going today. Usually aired on BBC1 for most of its run, but moved to BBC2 during Wimbledon . Nowadays airs on CBBC . The show is best described as a "magazine show".

The presenters (usually three or four these days) do a variety of different activities: Craft demonstrations, such as a papier-mâché Tracey Island .note The BBC received letters from over 100,000 people asking how to make the Tracey Island model. Presenters doing rather insane challenges. This will involve stuff like painting the Forth Bridge, military assault courses, or climbing Nelson's Column. How stuff is made. Meeting celebrities. Acting in panto(mime)s , historical re-enactments and original tales. (They once managed to do an entire edition on the Young Bond novels, complete with performances of James Bond songs, and never showed a movie clip). There are often performances by various people. Everyone who appears on the show gets a Blue Peter Badge, which allows free admission to a number of UK attractions. There are other types of badges, the most famous being the Gold Badge, given to people who have done something very special (presenters are now getting them on departure). Every year, the team go on a Summer Expedition abroad.

There is also the annual charity appeal, with the "totaliser" and the attendant " bring-and-buy sales " - usually, the charity appeals run on a biannual schedule of these and 'collecting X' note in 2009 it was T-shirts, used to make hospital gowns for kids with cleft lips and palates from India, often things which can be reused, or recycled for monetary gain. The show has a number of resident pets. The most famous of these was a dog called Petra (actually a substitute after the first dog died), whose death became national news. ITV tried to launch a knock-off imitator called Magpie , but this faltered and failed after perhaps four years, despite the attractions of presenter Susan Stranks . The show has an extremely good relationship with Doctor Who : Presenter Peter Purves also played Steven Taylor, a companion to the First Doctor. Actress Sophie Aldred (who played Ace) was awarded two Blue Peter badges as a child, she later wore it as part of her costume (which caused something of a stir until it was confirmed that it was indeed Sophie's badge and not a prop).

Oddly enough, the first one was for a design for a rocket launcher created from a washing up liquid bottle and a garden hose! David Tennant received a gold badge in 2009. A 1973 edition contains the only broadcast footage of the First Doctor's regeneration and the show has made appeals for lost footage. During the 1970s, the show had a nationwide 'manhunt' for a group of criminals who stole a set of Daleks from the BBC. The Daleks were returned within 24 hours, in varying degrees of misuse. In-character Daleks participated in the appeal and updates. The show was featured on screen in "Aliens of London" , and The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "Invasion of the Bane". The show has ran numerous competitions for children to contribute to the series, including: A contest to design the monster for "Love & Monsters" . A contest to get an appearance in "Utopia" . A contest to design a TARDIS console for "The Doctor's Wife" . A contest to design a gizmo for "Deep Breath" , resulting in Strax's medical examiner. There's been quite a few Who-related crafts.

Bits of Blue Peter are often included on the DVD releases of classic series stories as bonus clips, often featuring interviews with the actors or displays of relevant Who-mania. There's a myth that the last episode of " The Tenth Planet " and " Power of the Daleks " were lost by Blue Peter. However, what is true is the clip of William Hartnell 's regeneration survives to this day without any loss of quality because of Blue Peter. There have been 32 presenters over the years. They include: Valerie Singleton John Noakes, the longest serving presenter, remembered for his collie and associated Catch Phrase ("Get down, Shep!") This sums up John Noakes/Shep quite well. Peter Purves, a companion of the Doctor , as mentioned above. Janet Ellis, who also made a minor appearance in Doctor Who ("The Horns of Nimon"). Is the mother of pop singer Sophie Ellis Bextor. Left the series when she was denied a new contract for getting pregnant while unmarried. (The baby wasn't Sophie). Sarah Greene. Also known from Saturday Morning Kids Show Going Live, and another Doctor Who actor (one of the Cryons in Attack of the Cybermen). Simon Groom, later a successful documentary filmmaker.

Was well known in his day for his ability to get crap under the radar. Richard Bacon. For all the wrong reasons - see below. Mark Curry, a man who epitomized all that was tackiest about 1980's style and fashion. Once demonstrated some life-size human sculptures in lego bricks and succeeded in breaking the head off one, which rolled off accross the studio floor. Konnie Huq ("Huck") - having been on the show for a decade, she's apparently a major draw for students, for the rather obvious reason of her looks. On Mock the Week Dara Ó Briain implied she was attractive and got mocked for it for the rest of the episode. Left in 2008.note She is married to Deadpan Snarker deconstructionist presenter Charlie Brooker Gethin Jones. Appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007. Matt Baker. Strictly Come Dancing 2010 finalist, and thought by some the be Konnie's equal in the looks department. John Leslie, who's become something of a punchline due to losing a later job on This Morning over rape allegations and admitted drug use.

Caron Keating, who sadly died young of breast cancer and left the presenting team having to explain the concept of death to a child audience. Not easy. Anthea Turner, whose TV career went stratospheric after leaving the show - the completely opposite trajectory to most ex childrens' TV presenters. Less frequently seen in recent years. Yvette Fielding, now involved in paranormal reality TV. Katy Hill, notable among the The '90s crowd due to wearing miniskirts and the related camerawork attempts to avoid showing anything too inappropriate as a result. Zöe Salmon, an ex Miss Northern Ireland. Her moment of notoriety came when she expressed on-air fury about a graphic of the British Isles that showed Ireland as a united whole and did not adequately convey the separateness of Northern Ireland . Worse, Ireland was coloured green. By way of punishment, Zoe was sent to do a report on Irish traditional dancing - the sort which does not attract Protestants for long-established historical reasons - to indicate that the show was not and would never be sectarian. Michael Sundin, a former dancer who left BP very abruptly when tabloids outed him as not only gay, but a former porn performer and occasional rent-boy.

He has since died of AIDS-related complications. His death was completely ignored, compared to the lengthy eulogy and obituary that Caron Keating deservedly received from the show. Tina Heath, who was asked to leave the show because she had become pregnant outside wedlock and had no intention of marrying the man involved. Diane Louise-Jordan, the first non-white Blue Peter presenter. Having joined some years after Tina Heath, her being an unmarried single mother was less of an issue. HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was a guest presenter on the show between 1970-74, although she is not usually counted as one of the "official" thirty-two. A friend and fan of the show, Anne Windsor accompanied the then presenters out to Africa on a summer safari, generally enjoying herself in the company of the presenters, and being very good PR for the Royals. Princess Anne also reported on horsey matters for the show and very graciously gave riding lessons to BP presenters hitherto innocent of the charms of equine contact. Her association with the show diminished after marriage in 1974, but she has returned at intervals.

There have been a number of very notable moments: An elephant defecating on camera and walking out of the studio, stepping on John Noakes' foot in the process. (Noakes later claimed that he only shouted "Get off my foot!" for comic effect, and that if the elephant had really stepped on his foot he'd have ended up walking on crutches.) Richard Bacon's sacking for taking cocaine , which resulted in a senior BBC official reading a live on-air apology and him being stripped of his Blue Peter badge . A Christmas Episode Reunion Show , about ten years later, casting various current and past presenters in a musical, featured an unseen villain named "Richard". Following his defeat the male lead said to the camera "I've cooked his bacon.". Shortly after Bacon's sacking on October 1998, Michael Palin was a guest on BP, there to talk about his latest globetrotting TV series. In true Monty Python style, Palin, invited to help with "the make", was seen on camera experimentally holding the glue-pot to his nose and taking a long, deep, investigative sniff.

Vandals breaking into the Blue Peter Garden and wrecking it, which was treated on-air by the hosts with all the gravitas of a murder. (An American equivalent would be slashing Mr. Rogers' tyres. You just don't do it.) The series Ashes to Ashes , about a cop who wakes up in the 1980's, features a Historical In-Joke where Gene Hunt turns out to be the vandal, destroying it while apprehending a suspect. In 2007 there was a handful of scandals about "rigged" audience participation events, including a child who was backstage apparently winning a phone-in competition when the lines went down; the decision to ignore an internet vote on the name of the new cat; and two actors being amongst the kids interviewing impressionist John Culshaw, to ensure the right sort of questions got asked. In 2012, the BBC announced the end for Blue Peter on mainstream BBC TV. The show left its long-time home on the BBC1 network (along with the last of the childrens' shows in their traditional slot) and was moved to the CBBC childrens' network, one of the BBC's many digital channels.

This decision has caused comment and criticism, especially as the BBC, like ITV, proposes to fill the gap left by the departure of children's TV with quizzes and game shows with much lower production values. This follows on from the decision that after forty years, there will no longer be an annual tie-in book. This show contains examples of: Brand X : the show invented the phrase "sticky-backed plastic" (for Fablon and Coveron) and used "sticky tape" (for Sellotape). The show once did an entire feature on the production of Smarties, while never naming the product. Catch Phrase : "Here's one I made earlier" and "And now for something completely different". The former is rarely used now - it's that cliché - and the latter is far better known for its use on Monty Python's Flying Circus . The Christmas Annual : The Blue Peter Book, published from 1964 to 2011 with occasional gaps.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Fifty facts about Blue Peter at 50 Fifty facts about Blue Peter at 50 Advertisement Watch some of the most memorable highlights from the past 50 years As Blue Peter celebrates 50 years on air, we look back at some of the show's highlights and institutions. IN THE BEGINNING • Blue Peter, the longest-running children's programme in the world, was first broadcast - for 15 minutes - on 16 October 1958. It was originally supposed to fill a six-week gap in scheduling. • The show is named after the blue-and-white flag flown on a ship's yard arm to show it is ready to go to sea - suggesting a voyage of discovery for viewers. ADVENT CROWN COMPONENTS Wire coat hangers Four candles (not fork handles) • Although Blue Peter was the brainchild of producer John Hunter Blair in 1958, it was only following the 1962 arrival of Biddy Baxter - together with new director Edward Barnes - that things like appeals, foreign trips, competition, pets and sticky-backed plastic began to appear.

• Housewife Margaret Parnell sent in the first idea for the "here's one I made earlier" section in 1963 - and ultimately spent nearly 40 years devising more than 700 "makes". • The Thunderbirds Tracy Island model remains the show's most popular make with more than 100,000 viewers requesting a factsheet. Presenter Anthea Turner still owns the original she crafted on the show in 1993. Another favourite was the Christmas advent crown made from coat hangers and fireproof tinsel. • On 30 July 1968, ITV launched Magpie - a rival show made by Thames Television which launched on the new licensee's first day of broadcast. The programme, which had a mascot called Murgatroyd the magpie, aimed to be hipper than its BBC counterpart. Blue Peter eventually saw it off in 1980. Blue Peter has won 40 awards in its 50-year history • There have been only six editors in the show's 50-year history. The first was Ms Baxter who stepped up from producer into the newly-created role in 1965.

She was followed by Lewis Bronze, Oliver Macfarlane, Steve Hocking, Richard Marson and current editor Tim Levell. • The programme blazed a trail for many subsequent BBC shows by breaking out of the studio and making full use of BBC Television Centre as a location. Initially, this prompted a memo from BBC management warning that "Television Centre is not a place of entertainment". • Blue Peter has won 40 awards, including a special award at the TV Baftas in 1998 for "outstanding contribution to children's television". PRESENTERS • According to Biddy Baxter, Blue Peter creator John Hunter Blair had two passions - 00 gauge railways and attractive women. The first presenters of the show were 00 gauge railway enthusiast Christopher Trace and 21-year-old Leila Williams, crowned Miss Great Britain the previous year. Daredevil Peter Duncan was a favourite with viewers • Yorkshireman John Noakes presented the programme for 12 and a half years between 1965 and 1978. He left at the age of 45, making him the longest-serving of the 34 Blue Peter presenters.

• Anita West had the briefest stint, spending four months on the show - from 7 May to 3 September 1962 - before returning to her acting career. • Yvette Fielding, who was 18 when she joined the show in 1987, was its youngest-ever presenter. • The classic line-up of John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves presented the show for five years from 1967 to 1972. • Peter Duncan, who wore trademark green-and-white checked outfits, is the only presenter to have had two stints on Blue Peter - between 1980 and 1984, and 1985 and 1986. He was awarded a gold Blue Peter badge in February 2007 in recognition of his work as Chief Scout. Caron Keating presented between November 1986 and January 1990 • Like John Noakes, whose "long fall" earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest freefall parachute jump by a civilian, Peter Duncan became associated with daredevil stunts. He went on to host Duncan Dares after quitting Blue Peter.

• In January 1990, Diane-Louise Jordan became Blue Peter's first black presenter. Louise-Jordan, who stayed in the show for six years, now hosts Songs of Praise. • Presenters who became more well-known after leaving the show include John Leslie, who had a relationship with Catherine Zeta Jones while he was in Blue Peter, Sarah Greene and the late Caron Keating. BLUE PETER ON iPLAYER Blue Peter: Craziest Moments • Greene, who fronted the show from 1980 to 1983, met her future husband, former TV presenter Mike Smith, while she was being filmed learning to dive at the wreck of sunken ship the Mary Rose. • Keating, who hosted the show from 1986 to 1990, died tragically at the age of 41. The daughter of TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and died at her mother's home in April 2004. IN ANOTHER LIFE • Prior to working on Blue Peter, Peter Duncan appeared nude in the British film The Lifetaker.

He also briefly starred in the cult film, Flash Gordon, in which he was killed by a tree monster. Peter Purves (right) previously starred as Doctor Who's assistant • Singer James Blunt - then James Blount - appeared on the show as a child, as did Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and presenter Konnie Huq. • Household names who applied to become Blue Peter presenters before they found fame include Gail Porter, Morse star Kevin Whately, The Bill's Todd Carty and Tiswas presenter Sally James. • Peter Purves, who appeared between 1967 and 1978, previously starred as the doctor's assistant in early episodes of hit BBC show Doctor Who. GAFFES AND SCANDALS • Host John Noakes was famously asked to drop his trousers after a bruising adventure on a bobsleigh. At which point, he realised he was wearing his wife's underwear which he had put on by accident in the dark.

Richard Bacon, pictured with Tim Henman and a fan, was sacked in 1998 • Simon Groom, who appeared on the show for eight years from 1978 to 1986, along with his dog Goldie, once said on the show: "What a beautiful pair of knockers." He was commenting on replacements for the historical door knocker at Durham Cathedral. • In 1987, it was revealed that Janet Ellis was an unmarried mother. The presenter - who left the show following the birth of her second child, Jack - already had a daughter, the future pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor. • Richard Bacon became the first Blue Peter presenter to be sacked, in October 1998, after he admitted taking cocaine, following reports in a tabloid newspaper. Lorraine Heggessey, then head of BBC Children's programmes, apologised on air. • In 2007, presenters were forced to apologise after faking the results of a phone-in competition. A technical problem led to a visiting child posing as a competition winner. "We let you down," Konnie Huq told viewers.

APPEALS • In the programme's early years, Christopher Trace presented Christmas toy reviews. The first appeal began with the idea of giving, rather than receiving toys - with the audience asked to send in toys for members of the audience who would not be receiving any. Totalisers, to tot up donations, are a mainstay of Blue Peter appeals • It is estimated that, across 46 Blue Peter appeals, the equivalent of more than ï¿½100m in today's money has been raised, while 14 Bring and Buy Sale initiatives have netted the equivalent of about ï¿½57m. • Blue Peter appeals have raised money to help buy: 8,350 lavatories, 57 lorries, 32 ponies, 25 lifeboats - some of which can still be found at seven lifeboat stations around the UK - 12 Romanian houses, eight flats for homeless people, six bungalows, three caravans, three schools, two guide dogs and two day centres. THE BLUE PETER GARDEN • Following the launch of the garden at BBC Television Centre in 1974, gardener Percy Thrower became a household name alongside the show's presenters.

He retired in 1988, and was followed by Chris Crowder, Clare Bradley and Chris Collins. Blue Peter gardener Percy Thrower became a household name • In November 1983, the garden was devastated by vandals, leaving Thrower in tears. • In 2000, footballer Les Ferdinand, who was brought up close to Television Centre, told reporters he had been involved in the raid on the Blue Peter garden. But last year, he told the Guardian newspaper that, under pressure from journalists, he had made the story up as a joke. • George the tortoise, Blue Peter's longest-surviving pet who died at the age of 81, is the only animal to have been buried in the Blue Peter garden. • Three time capsules have been buried around BBC Television Centre. The first, buried in 1971, had to be moved because of building development. A second was buried in 1984, and another in 2000 - scheduled to be opened in 2029.

• Another millennium time capsule was hidden under the building that is now the O2 arena in south-east London, as part of the build up to 2000, and will be opened in 2050. BADGES • Introduced in 1963, the Blue Peter badge was Biddy Baxter's idea. She wanted to generate fresh ideas for the programme and offered the badges as an incentive to eager young viewers to write in. Lesley Judd, brought into the show in 1972, gives a badge to a viewer • The badge allows free admission into 200 venues around the UK. However, in 2006, the scheme was briefly suspended when the badges were found to have been auctioned on the eBay website. • There are six types of badges now in existence - blue, green, purple, orange, silver and gold. • The Gold Blue Peter Badge is the show's highest honour and is awarded to those who have displayed, among other things, exceptional courage, or have represented their country in an international event. • Famous gold badge winners include the Queen - who visited the studio in 2001 - author JK Rowling and footballer David Beckham.

• Olympic bronze medallist Bryony Stokes wore her Blue Peter badge as she windsurfed to victory at the Beijing Olympics 2008. ANIMALS • Among the Blue Peter pets there have been eight dogs, five tortoises, nine cats and two parrots. Presenters Michael Sundin and Simon Groom with tortoise George in 1985 • Fred the tortoise, who first appeared on 21 October 1963, had to be renamed Freda, after it was discovered, four years later, that he was actually a girl. • Bonnie, a much-loved golden retriever, was given a Gold Blue Peter badge on her retirement in 1991. • John Noakes' catchphrase, "get down Shep", used to control his canine companion, was incorporated into a pop song of the same name by The Barron Knights in 1978, reaching number 44 in the charts. • And finally, in 1969, Lulu the elephant famously defecated, urinated and dragged her keeper through the mess in the studio. During the chaotic scenes, the keeper could be heard shouting for someone to fetch "me stick".

Lulu the elephant is one of Blue Peter's most fondly-remembered guests As Peter Purves explains: "During rehearsals, anytime he wanted the elephant to do anything, he had a chain around its neck and he'd pull it, the elephant wouldn't go and he'd bonk it on the head with a stick and Biddy thought it looked cruel. "She said, 'Would you please do it without a stick,' - so he did. The elephant went wherever it liked - end of story."

Question: Which 'Blue Peter' presenter was once a Dr. Who assistant?
Answer: Peter Purves